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P9088b-9089A Hon Liz Behjat Extract from Hansard [COUNCIL — Tuesday, 2 December 2014] p9088b-9089a Hon Liz Behjat REG WITHERS Statement HON LIZ BEHJAT (North Metropolitan) [9.42 pm]: Tonight I pay tribute to a man whom I had the privilege of knowing for well over 35 years and someone whom I am sure will be remembered as a good bloke and a true Australian from the west. I am offering these words in condolence to mark the passing of Rt Hon Reginald Greive Withers—“Reg” to just about everyone—former senator, minister of the Crown and Lord Mayor of Perth. Reg was born on 27 October 1924 and died on 15 November this year. I first met Reg through his son Simon, who remains one of my close friends, when we were in the Young Liberals together in the late 1970s and Reg was a senator from Western Australia, a role he held from 1966 to 1987. Although members might think that I have been in the Liberal Party forever, I was not actively involved in the Liberal Party at the time of the dismissal of the Whitlam government, although of course I came to know about the pivotal role that Reg played at that period in Australian politics as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Reg ensured that all senators held firm in their decision to block supply in 1975 to force Whitlam to an election. In part of his tribute to Reg last week, former state Liberal leader Bill Hassell wrote, regarding Reg’s role in the historic chain of events — As in all cases in politics where tough decisions are needed and made, and where the heat goes on as it certainly was going on then, there are doubters and waverers, those who lose their nerve, those who fall over at the gate, and some who creep around in the background seeking to be ‘reasonable’ and accommodating when what is needed is a firm and unwavering position. Such was exactly the position faced by Reg Withers at that critical time. ... His huge achievement was to keep the team together, to keep the Liberal Senators committed right through to the end in the face of all the doubts and doubters, the weaklings and the ‘underminers’. Bill, in his tribute, went on to say that he thought this was where Reg’s nickname of “Toecutter” came about, and he found it amusing that, up until his death, Reg’s email address remained [email protected]. However, Simon attributes the nickname to Reg’s reputation for cutting wasteful spending during his time as Minister for Administrative Services under the Fraser government. One of his many cost-cutting actions at that time was to cancel a number of the allowances and perks that were given to Australian diplomats serving overseas, such as free newspapers and piano tuners to ensure that the pianos were in tune for the annual playing of the national anthem on Australia Day. Soon after the cuts were made by the “Toecutter”, he and his wife Shirley were dining in the Australian embassy in Thailand and felt the wrath of the diplomats over the cuts when the ambassador’s wife apologised for serving sausages but, she said, because of the cuts it was all they could afford, to which Reg replied, “Great, I love sausages!” Such was the wicked sense of humour that Reg was very well known for. His love of sausages reminds me of a personal memory of Reg that is also about food. As I said earlier, Reg’s son Simon and I were, and still are, good friends, and there were a couple of others in our inner circle, including former Howard minister and WA Senator Chris Ellison, and prominent Perth QC Mark Trowell. We were often together having dinner and drinks, and on one occasion our conversation turned to the sorts of foods our parents ate that we would not dream of eating. It seemed that amongst all our parents there was a liking for tripe, which none of us would even contemplate eating; I think it was probably the fact that all our parents had lived during the war years and fillet steak would not have often appeared on their tables. After that evening we came up with the idea to have a party for kids and parents, and that we would cook for our parents the foods that they craved and that we did not like. I vividly remember my one and only time cooking tripe and presenting it to Reg. His face broke into that infamous grin of his and he said that the only thing that would be better than the tripe would be if it were to be followed by rice pudding! Funnily enough, that is exactly what I had made for dessert, so Reg, my late father and Chris Ellison’s late father were all very happy about that day’s lunch. It actually was a fun party. A few more kids and parents parties were held over the years, but tripe never appeared on the menu again! Reg was certainly well known for his quick wit and his sense of humour, and a number of people have recalled a few of Reg’s one-liners that they had heard over the years, such as, “There are no friendships in politics, only passing alliances”, or, “Consistency in a politician is a sign of a small mind”—something that I think members should think about! Chris Ellison recalled that Reg, a former lawyer, often made the comment when reflecting on the independence of the judiciary, “The trouble with these judges is that they all think they got there on their own merits.” Chris went on to say that with the passing of Reg and others of his era, Australian politics is largely bereft of such colour and wit, and he was convinced that Reg made sure he lived just long enough to outlive Gough Whitlam. [1] Extract from Hansard [COUNCIL — Tuesday, 2 December 2014] p9088b-9089a Hon Liz Behjat At his memorial service, held last Friday at St George’s Cathedral, his good friend Andrew Peacock, former federal leader of the Liberal Party, came from the United States where he now lives to pay tribute to Reg. Simon gave the eulogy on behalf of the family. In his eulogy, Simon gave an insight into Reg and Shirley’s early years in Bunbury and how Reg first became interested in politics. I am not sure whether it is widely known amongst my party colleagues in this place, and probably not by many of my colleagues on the other side of the house, but Reg came from a Labor Party background. One of the stories retold by Simon was that Reg’s father was secretary of the engine drivers’ union and a prominent member of the Labor Party in WA. He was one of the 36 men who put socialism into the Labor Party’s official platform at the 1921 federal conference in Brisbane, which makes him one of the founders of the modern Labor Party. His roommate at that conference was also a delegate from the engine drivers’ union—a man from New South Wales called Ben Chifley—and they remained friends for the rest of their lives. In those days, an MP’s gold pass bought a train ticket and little else, so when Ben Chifley came to Western Australia, he often stayed with Reg’s father because MPs did not get a hotel allowance. One of Reg’s earliest experiences of federal politics was being turfed out of his bed to sleep on the sofa whenever Ben Chifley came to stay! Ironically, it was Chifley’s bank nationalisation legislation that led Reg to join the Liberal Party. He had recently returned from the war, where he had spent four years of his life fighting against tyranny. He said that when he saw Menzies fighting against the same kind of tyranny in Australia, he joined the Liberal Party. At Reg’s memorial service, the recently retired Anglican Dean of St George’s Cathedral, The Very Reverend Dr John Shepherd, gave the address. He spoke of his experiences with Reg when Reg was the Lord Mayor of Perth. Dr Shepherd wrote to Reg to complain that Main Roads WA seemed to be using heavy machinery to dig up the road outside the cathedral every Sunday morning and it was distracting the congregation from its devotions as people were unable to hear themselves pray and sing hymns, let alone hear anything else going on. Reg wrote a letter to Main Roads, which he copied to Dr Shepherd, and in it he wrote, “Please can you stop making so much noise outside the cathedral on a Sunday; you are waking the congregation up from their slumber during the reverend’s sermon.” It seems no-one was spared Reg’s sense of humour. In retirement, Reg enjoyed spending time with his family. He never moved from his house on Malcolm Street, just across the road from Parliament, where he and Shirley lived after they had moved from Bunbury many years ago. Reg was a wonderful father to Simon, Nigel and Rowena, and a loving grandfather to Simon’s daughters, Phoebe and Hannah. He will be greatly missed by them all. I pay tribute to Reg Withers and the wonderful contribution he made to Australian politics and his community in general. I know I am joined by all my colleagues on this side of the house in passing on my condolences to all his family.
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